Have you ever dreamt of being a stand-in on a film or TV show?

Certainly, for some people, the idea of being the stand-in for a star actor or celebrity sounds appealing. One might think of glitz and glamor, privileged experiences, and buckets of money.

Although some stand-ins may experience outsized perks by working as a stand-in, for the most part, stand-in work is a practical profession largely devoid of glitz and glamor, that can be very challenging for some people who aren’t really interested in the actual work.

Standing in is much, much more than simply standing on a set and looking like an actor. Sure, sometimes that might be the job. But on the whole, most stand-in work is a lot more than simply standing on a set. And a lot of stand-in work does not have anything to do with looking like an actor.

With that said, stand-in work on a TV series or a film can be a great job — especially if the job is a union job. Here are a few aspects of stand-in work that make it great.

Practical Education about TV- and Filmmaking

One of the best aspects of being on stand-in on a TV show or film is the privilege of experiencing how it is shot.

As a stand-in, you will see so much of how scenes are shot and produced, eventually getting to see the final product when it airs.

Although you won’t typically see the private rehearsal with the director and your actors, you will get to see a “marking” rehearsal for the crew, during which the scene is shown to the crew so they can understand the scene and know what will be shot.

Then, you will stand where your actor stood in the scene. During this time, you will see how a production brings in lights, camera equipment, etc., then sets up the lights and cameras around you. If you’re new to this whole process, the information will be too overwhelming to understand fully, but as time goes on, you’ll get to know the rhythm of a set, what tends to happen when, and eventually why things happen and why certain crew members do what they do.

You may also rehearse the scene in what’s called a “second-team rehearsal.” You will get a feel for what it’s like to have a camera on you and your movements, and feel how you help the crew (or hinder the crew) as you do your work.

Then, you will get to see the actors do the scene. Usually, the actors will do multiple takes, so you will get to see how stop-and-start and error-filled the process is toward getting a great take. You will see all of the moving parts in a scene, and you will start to appreciate the professionalism of the crew.

You will probably endure long hours when standing in, and learn how much time it takes to produce a TV show or film. As you learn more and more, you will start to anticipate what will happen, how you will be needed, and understand more and more. You will move from someone who might have felt insecure on set at first, eventually toward feeling knowledgable and confident on set.

When you’re working as a stand-in, you get such an interesting vantage on so much of the work involved in producing a TV show or film, and a lot of what you pick up will be practical knowledge you can apply to your future work as a stand-in — or in some other role on a TV or film set.

Decent Pay

Although each person’s financial situation is different, generally speaking, stand-in work pays a decent wage by today’s standards.

Stand-in work on average pays around $30/hour currently (depending on the exact SAG-AFTRA contract) for most TV/film work, and in most cases that work comes with an 8-hour minimum. After taxes, many stand-ins will have a paycheck under $200, which might not be that great especially when living in a big city like New York City or Los Angeles.

But stand-in work frequently involves overtime, which can pay time and a half, a lot of times double time, and on rare occasions “golden time” (the stand-ins’ daily rate per hour, when on the job for more than 16 hours). Suffice it to say, when stand-ins get overtime, which isn’t uncommon, they start to make pretty decent money by today’s standards.

Eligibility for Health Insurance

In addition, on SAG-AFTRA jobs, stand-ins may quality for health insurance if they meet the eligibility requirements for the SAG-AFTRA Health Plan.

The SAG-AFTRA Health Plan (an organization different from the union) sets eligibility requirements to qualify for health insurance. These requirements change periodically, and when you’re reading this post, they may have changed. Currently, in a twelve-month period, a stand-in needs to earn $27,000 in covered income or work 104 covered days.

What is especially great for stand-ins is that what counts as a “day” is measured by the daily rate for a background actor. A background actor’s daily rate is below that of a stand-in on most jobs, meaning when a stand-in works most jobs, that stand-in will, at minimum, quality for more than one “day” of health insurance eligibility.

And if the stand-in earns overtime, that income contributes toward more “days” toward health insurance eligibility.

It is entirely possible to work one real day as a stand-in, and in working overtime, qualify for two “days” toward health insurance eligibility!

So, if you work regularly as a stand-in on a TV show or film, and if you often work overtime, you may find you have to show up to work fewer than 104 days in order to qualify for health insurance eligibility. (And many people find SAG-AFTRA Health Plan insurance affordable and decent.)

Cool Experiences

When you work as a stand-in, you will have plenty of boring days when you simply stand on a mark and do nothing. However, from time to time, you will have some stand-out experiences that will live in your memories for years.

Over time, you will likely get to work with top professionals, whether they be actors, directors, producers, directors of photography, or even other acclaimed crew members.

As a stand-in, you may find you get to do rehearsals of scenes with some level of excitement or challenge. Although you probably won’t do stunts, you may be somehow involved in rehearsals of them.

You may make friends with people you might otherwise have never known. For example, you might develop close relationships with other crew members or the actor with whom you’re standing in, possibly leading to future work. (Close relationships with actors is not usually the case, but it can happen. Generally, let it organically unfold.)

Overall, you will get to be part of the making of a movie or TV series, and when it comes out, you will get to see how you contributed to it. You will relive some of the grueling and exciting days, and — perhaps to the annoyance of others watching with you — you will have behind-the-scenes insights into the making of the production.

Conclusion

Of course, there are plenty more aspects to stand-in work that make it a great job — and certainly some aspects that make it not-so-great for some people.

But if you have ever thought of working as a stand-in, the above aspects may help bring the job “back down to earth” and attract you even further to it!

Have you ever dreamt of being an actor’s stand-in? What surprised you about standing in when you finally got a job? Share your experiences in the comments below!